PC 5, Brown 0: Friars keep their hold on Mayor's Cup

Wednesday

PROVIDENCE — Before Wednesday night, Brown’s last game was on Dec. 9. Providence College, on the other hand, played twice just last weekend, winning the Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh.

The difference between the sluggish Bears and the well-tuned Friars was apparent in PC’s 5-0 win in the Mayor’s Cup game at Schneider Arena.

“We were game-sharp and they were coming off a break,’’ said PC coach Nate Leaman.

Brown coach Brendan Whittet couldn’t disagree.

“I don’t think we played very well. We were disjointed from the get-go,’’ he said. “All of us have to do a better job — our staff, our players. We didn’t have it. We did not play a good hockey game.’’

Senior captain Brian Pinho scored a goal and added an assist and Hayden Hawkey stopped 15 shots for his third shutout of the season as the 11th-ranked Friars retained the Mayor’s Cup.

Other goal-scorers were Greg Printz, Scott Conway, Josh Wilkins and Ben Mirageas, who also tallied two assists.

Pinho — selected as the tournament MVP in Pittsburgh — was a standout again on Wednesday night.

“Brian’s second half of the game, he was really dominant. He was excellent against Robert Morris in the championship game (in PC’s win on Saturday),’’ said Leaman.

“It’s all about him getting his feet moving. When he’s moving his feet he’s pretty darn effective. He made a great play on his goal. A lot of poise there.’’

With the win, PC (13-7-1) leads the series with its crosstown rival that dates to 1927, 50-46-3.

The Friars jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Printz’s goal at 7:01 of the opening period. Brandon Duhaime fed Printz a pass from behind the net and the freshman slid the puck past Brown goalie Gavin Nieto (28 saves) from 10 feet away. Mirageas was credited with the second assist.

It was Printz’s third goal of the season and his second in the last three games.

The best scoring chance for Brown (5-8-1) in the first period came in the final seconds. Tyler Bird and Charlie Corcoran worked a nifty give-and-go and Hawkey made a nice save on Bird’s shot from the slot.

Providence doubled its lead on a power play goal by Wilkins at 7:57 of the second period.

An unusual sequence led up to the goal. It happened with Brown’s Anea Ferrario in the box for holding and PC in possession of the puck in the Bears end. With a delayed penalty upcoming on Brown, which would have given PC a five-on-three power play, Brown’s Alec Mehr had a chance to touch the puck, at which point play would have been whistled dead.

Instead, Mehr let the puck go without touching it, allowing a couple of seconds to run off Brown’s penalty. Unfortunately for the Bears, the puck went to PC’s Wilkins, who whistled it past Nieto.

Pinho and Mirageas were credited with assists. It was Pinho’s 100th point as a Friar.

PC pulled away in the third period, as Pinho notched an insurance goal at 5:11, finishing a rush with a wraparound shot past Nieto. Assists went to Kasper Bjorkqvist and Davis Bunz.

Conway added a power play goal at 16:31 of the third. Duhaime and Spenser Young assisted.

Mirageas closed out the scoring with a blast from the blue line with 32 seconds to go.

PC had 32 shot attempts in the third period to only 6 for Brown. The Friars had a total of 80 shot attempts, while the Bears had 33.

“The third period was probably the worst period of hockey I’ve seen us play this year by far. They pelted us and ended up winning going away,’’ said Whittet.

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